1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for the processing of used barrels with a view to storage and/or recycling thereof.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It relates notably, though not exclusively, to a device for the compressing of metal barrels, of the type described in French patent No. 93 00753 (publication number 2 700 495) granted to SFANID RENOV'CUVES, and which uses:
- an enclosure forming the supporting structure of the press and intended to receive the barrel to be processed, PA0 - a dual-action hydraulic jack of which the body is mounted on the upper side of the enclosure and whose rod, which passes through said side, bears at its lower end a crushing plate that is vertically mobile inside the enclosure, PA0 - a base situated opposite the plate and on which the barrel is positioned, PA0 - a perforating and cleaning mechanism comprised of a cylindrical tube mounted vertically slidable through an opening in the plate and ended, at its lower part, by a perforating head, PA0 - a vertical gantry mounted fixedly on the plate, supporting the perforating and cleaning mechanism by means of a jack. PA0 - a loading/unloading position situated outside of the enclosure, this position enabling the barrel to be centered and orientated prior to the loading, as well as enabling it to be unloaded subsequent to the processing, and PA0 - a processing position situated inside the enclosure, this position enabling the enclosure to be tightly sealed and the purging and processing operations to be performed.
Initially, the crushing plate is in the upper position which is the position in which a plate can be placed on the base.
Once this latter operation has been performed, the plate is lowered slightly to come to bear on the upper side of the barrel.
The next stage consists in lowering the perforating and cleaning mechanism to the lower position by means of the jack so as to successively bore the upper side and then the lower side of the barrel, after which the device conducts a phase, consisting in raising the perforating and cleaning mechanism, during which the barrel is washed by the injection of pressurized cleansing fluid which flows out through the hole made in the lower side of the barrel.
Once the perforating mechanism has been raised to the upper position, the plate is lowered to crush the barrel and reduce it to the dimensions of a thin cake.
When the plate has been raised, this cake can be removed and be easily transported e.g. to a recycling center.
It so happens that devices of this type, despite the fact that they enable excellent results to be obtained and are particularly efficient in solving the environmental problem posed by the storage of used barrels having contained pollutant or even dangerous products, nonetheless pose certain problems.
A first problem is related to the fact that a certain number of barrels to be processed have contained or even continue to contain volatile inflammable products generating an explosive atmosphere inside the barrel. In view of this fact, and despite the use of explosion-proof substances, notably at the level of the perforating mechanism, the risk of explosion cannot really be entirely excluded.
In order to obviate these drawbacks, it has been proposed that the barrels be purged prior to the perforating phase. However, this purging implies manipulations that have proved to be dangerous due to the harmfulness of the products contained in the barrels.
A second problem is related to the fact that the putting of the barrels into position and the removal of the cakes imply manipulations within the enclosure of the device. Here again, such manipulations must be totally excluded when the barrels have contained or contain toxic products.